Last Saturday was Gail's birthday. A few days earlier she had seen an announcement of a non-commercial music festival out in the desert mountains, a mile from the Mexican border, about 90 miles east of San Diego, where you could stay the night and camp among the boulders. I initially thought it sounded a little sketchy, but, hey, it's Gail's birthday, and if this is what she wants to do, I'm in.
Some of the photos below are by Matthew Matingas. I'll designate those with an MM.
At the parking area, we were greeted by an air conditioned bus to carry us, our ice chest, and camping gear the half mile to the venue.
We immediately sought out a good tent site, with this one having a shady cave as a bonus. It was 94 degrees, with a gentle breeze. It was a dry heat.
Gail finds a friend next to the cave.
The Desert View Tower was completed in 1923 to commemorate the pioneers and road and railroad builders who opened the area.
The areas inside the tower includes cozy areas and displays of art and culture relevant to the area.
This is definitely a little island of liberalism.
The view from the top of the tower to the venue below.
Gail found this handbag that had exquisitely stitched bighorn sheep on it. Birthday present!
The music venue before the 2:30 start.
We found a shady spot for our beach chairs close to both stages.
There were some choice spots in the boulders above the stage. Notice the rock sculpture created by W.T. Ratcliffe, who worked in the 1930's for a dollar a day and a bottle of wine, making his many fantasy sculptures out of the granite. MM
One of our favorite early groups to play was led by Stephen El Rey. There were 14 bands in all, playing 45 minute sets, alternating between the two stages.
The Widows
The Strawberry Moons. No one between the ages of 12 and 21 were allowed at the festival. Maybe unfair, but I think a wise decision.
Buckfast Superbee
You had free rein of the tower, too!
Gail and the ladies dancing to Creepseed. I think it was this band that jokingly said that their last song would be a dance contest. Gail and I boogied (I had no idea of what I was doing), and although no winners were announced, this man came up to us afterwards and said we should have won. I felt very relaxed with this crowd, and my dance phobia seemed to have taken a vacation.
The Mattson 2 were awesome. Coincidentally, Nick will see them this Friday in Sonoma.
As I walked back to the tent to get sweaters and headlamps, I could see down over the desert below. You can see a big wind farm way out there. It turned out we didn't need sweaters and headlamps. It stayed in the 70's all night, and the stars were bright.
Transportation for late comers had now switched from the bus to Coyote's Flying Saucer Retrievals and Repairs Service.
At dusk, you could see the Moon and Jupiter above Radiator Stage.
Percussionist with Birdy Bardot. MM
Birdy Bardot. MM
From near our campsite. The desert sky was spectacular. MM
Fun with lights. MM
Looking down from the tower. MM
Light fun. MM
More light fun. MM
Even more light fun. MM
Playboy Manbaby was amusing, kind of reminded me of The Tubes back in the 70's. MM
You can see me and Gail in the small crowd. MM
Birdy Bardot MM
Playboy Manbaby (can you find Bob and Gail?) MM
The Strawberry Moons MM
Although the limit for tickets was 400, it never seemed there were more than 100 around the band area. MM
People attending were very respectful of others - a friendly bunch! MM
As we left in the morning, we passed another of Coyote's vehicles.
Happy Birthday, Gail!
No comments:
Post a Comment